Laundry padding



Oct. 2, 1934. J, HUNT Q 1,975,103

LAUNDRY PADDING Filed May 16. 1952 Patented Oct. 2, 1934 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 1,975,103 LAUNDRY PADDING of Georgia Application May 16,1932, Serial No. 611,718

Claims.

This invention relates to 2. padding such as is used on the presserrollers of ironing machines employed in laundries, and the like.

Such paddings, as produced in the industry at 5 present, are composed ofrovings or slivers of cotton laid ply upon ply and knitted together. Theslivers used are composed of long staple cotton which has been carefullyprocessed not only to remove every iota of foreign matter, dirt, leaves,

etc. from it but also to render it as light and fluffy as possible andwith the fibers of the cotton arranged in parallel relationship. One ofthe main purposes of constructing the paddings of this thoroughlyprocessed cotton is to produce a padding which will meet the demands, asto whiteness and softness, of the trade. The users of the paddingsdemand a high quality product.

The very quality of the paddings as now manufactured for the trade,however, gives rise to material disadvantages so far as the life of thepadding when in use, and its effectiveness for the purpose for which itis designed, are concerned. The usual method of applying the paddings isto wrap them about the rolls of the ironing machines and cover them witha sheet of cloth. As the machines operate the rollers revolve whilebearing upon the pieces of laundry that pass through the machines.Considerable pressure is applied to the rolls during their operation,and they are, as

well, heated to considerable degree, and in addition to this the piecesof laundry as they pass through the machines are in a dampenedcondition. The result of this is that the paddings are not onlysubjected to heat and pressure, but also to the action of the vaporsresulting from the operation of the machines. The constant alternatecompression and expansion that takes place in the paddings (due to thefact that they press only on one side against the work as they revolve)in the presence of pressure, heat and vapor, re-

duces the paddings in a relatively short time to a point where they losetheir life and resiliency and become flattened, matted and hard, andpresent uneven and relatively hard surfaces to the laundered pieces, andwhen this condition is reached the paddings need to be replaced with newones.

The cleaning,- carding, etc. processes through which the cotton is sentto place it in a condition which will be acceptable to the trade takeaway a good deal of the life and resiliency of the cotton and beat itinto a condition which lowers its resistance to the deterioratingconditions surrounding its use in a laundry roll padding.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a padding which to amarked extent alleviates the disadvantages referred to above whichaccrue to paddings as at present constituted in the art. I accomplishthis object by providing 2. padding which so far as external appearancesare concerned meet every requirement of whiteness, cleanness, flufiinessand softness demanded by the trade, but which is so constructedinteriorly as to withstand, to a much greater degree than paddings as atpresent constituted, the tendency of such paddings to lose their lifeand resiliency and become hardened and packed. To do this I provide apadding in which the layers of roving are composed of a core of amaterial having the characteristics of remaining resilient under thecondition of use above referred to and having an outer covering orveneer of cotton which has been thoroughly processed so as to render itsoft and fluffy and white, and with its fibers arranged in substantiallyparallel relationship. The padding so composed presents the externalappearances of padding as now commercially produced, but due to thegreater resiliency and toughness, longer life, and ability to withstandthe adverse conditions of use, the padding is designed not only tooutlive the product as now usually commercially produced, but to avoidthe objections as to the development of surface irregularity andlumpiness common to the usual paddings.

A further object of my inven a padding which, during the knittingoperation, will develop a greater thickness and a fluflier and softerappearance than a padding as now usually constituted in the trade, ofthe same weight per square inch.

Another object of my invention is to provide a padding which, whilehaving the advantages above referred to, is at the same time a cheaperproduct.

With these and other objects in view which will become more apparent asthe description proceeds, I have illustrated a padding made inaccordancewith one form of my invention in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a portion of 9, padding madeaccording to my invention; and

Figure 2 represents a sectional view therethrough.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the padding is made up of asuccession of plies 5 of roving, knitted together as at 6. Machinescapable of making this kind of padding are known in the art, and it istherefore unnecessary to describe the knitting operation in detail.

The layers of roving are composed of a core tion is to provide 35 7surrounded by a veneering 8 of material differing in quality or kind,and characteristics, from the material which comprises the core. I formthe core of a resilient, fibrous material such as jute, flax, low gradecotton, ramie, wool, etc. The material of the core is of a high naturalresiliency relative to the material of the veneering, and relative tothe cotton used in making paddings in the art at present, such as willmake it tend to expand after having been compressed, and the fibers ofthe core are preferably in a state of interentanglement and intermixturediffering from those of the veneering, which latterare as a result ofthe milling operations through which the veneering has passed in alightand flufiy and substantially parallel relationship. The veneering maytake the form of comber" cotton in the condition in which it comes fromthe last carding operation used in the processing of the cotton, so thatthe roving presents an external appearance simiar to that of the highgrade cotton which has heretofore been used in the art in making theentire roving. This veneering of finished cotton surrounds the moreresilient and interentangled fibrous core of the roving, the core thusacting as an agency which imparts to the sliver, and to the padding whenthe latter has been formed, a degree of resiliency and toughness whichwithstands to a marked extent the conditions of heat, pressure andmoisture to which the padding is subjected while in use. The core, whenit is composed of cotton, may be made of a low grade cotton which hasbeen processed only sufficiently to allow it to be formed into a sliveror roving, and consequently may contain some impurities or foreignmatter such as leaf flecks or the like, and which, as a consequence ofnot having proceeded far in the milling processes, has its fibers stillentangled and intermeshed to a considerable degree. Such foreign matter,however, if present is not objectionable as it is entirely encompassedand hidden by the surrounding veneering. And so, also, with the othermaterials that may form the core. The interentangled condition of thefiber of the core adds to the toughness and resiliency of the padding asa whole.

The core, and the veneering, may if desired be twisted to a greaterextent than the twist imparted to the roving usually made up intopaddings, and this twisted condition of the core, or the veneer, or bothadds to the resiliency, and in a degree to the tensile strength, of theplies which go into the formation of the paddings. The twisting is not,however, sufficient to render the core or the roving similar to a ropeor cord.

In addition to the advantages in use which accrue to the padding madeaccording to my invention, it will be observed that the greaterresiliency, and tendency to expand, imparted by the core to the roving,has the advantage, during the knitting operation, of resisting thecompressing action of the knitted loops, with the result that thepadding when finished is thicker than paddings, as ordinarily made, ofthe same weight per square surface area, more compact by reason of thetendency of the layers to bulge laterally against each other, presents amore fiuffy appearance, and tends to expand between the places where itis caught by'the knitted loops, so that The padding may be manufacturedin the form illustrated, or, if desired, it may be made up with areinforcing backing of Woven fabric as for instance in accordance withthe patent to Baynard Willingham, No. 1,816,416.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by U. S. Letters Patent is:-

1. As an article of manufacture, a padding for laundry machines, saidpadding comprising a plurality of layers of slivers held together byknitted loops, the slivers having a core portion and a veneering portionof the same structural sliver characteristics, the veneering portioncovering the core portion, the core portion being of tough resilientfibrous material as compared to the veneering portion with the fibersinterentangled and intermeshed, the material of the veneering being softand fiufiy with the fibers arranged substantially in parallelrelationship.

2. As an article of manufacture, a padding for laundry machines, saidpadding comprising a plurality of layers of slivers held together byknitted loops, the slivers comprising a core portion and a veneeringportion of slivrous characteristics, the veneering portion covering thecore portion, the material of the core portion differing in quality fromthe material of the veneering portion and being relatively resilient ascompared thereto, the material of the veneering portion being soft andfiufiy.

3. As an article of manufacture, a padding for laundry machines, saidpadding comprising a plurality of layersof slivers held together byknitted loops, the slivers comprising a core portion and a veneeringportionboth of slivrous structural characteristics, the veneeringportion covering the core portion, the material of the core portiondiffering in quality from the material of the veneering, the material ofthe veneering portion being soft and fluffy.

4. A padding for laundry machines comprising a-plurality of layers ofslivers suitably held together, the slivers comprising a core portionand a veneering portion surrounding the core portion, the core portionand the veneering portion being in the form of a sliver, the coreportion being a fibrous material of different grade than the veneeringportion, the latter being of soft fiuffy fibers.

5. A padding for laundry machines comprising a plurality of compositeslivers suitably held together, said composite slivers comprising a coreportion and a veneering portion both being of slivrous characteristics,the veneering portion covering the core portion, the core portion beingof fibrous material lower in grade and higher in resiliency than thematerial comprising the veneering portion.

JESSE A. HUNT.

